Betrayal in Harry Potter and the HalfBlood Prince
by Drakon Lass
Summary: Boring Boring Boring... an essay I wrote for a class. Also includes spoilers, of course.


Other Worlds and Fantastic Beings

12-10-2006

Betrayal in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The theme of betrayal is prevalent in J. K. Rowling's book Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Often, even in the rest of her series, it is difficult to tell where one character's loyalties lie. While Harry (and Harry's friends presumably) never falters in his loyalty as "Dumbledore's man" and Dumbledore, forever loyal to the school, never abandons the fight to keep the school safe, other characters, such as Snape and Draco Malfoy, are much less trustworthy and apparently fairly duplicitous. Some deceitfulness is definitely blatant and catastrophic, while some is what might be thought of as everyday betrayals, like individual missteps among friends.

The most shocking and obvious example of betrayal is that of Snape. Throughout the whole series, Harry Potter is suspicious of Snape and doesn't buy the story of Snape being a double agent for Dumbledore—if for anybody, Harry Potter believes that Snape is working for Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters. In the beginning, Snape's loyalty is questioned by people on both sides. Narcissa, in chapter two, is desperate to find someone to protect her son, Draco, who has been given a deadly assignment by Lord Voldemort. Since she has full trust in Snape and knows that Snape is the only Death Eater who will always be close to Draco, Narcissa goes to beg Snape to help Draco. Narcissa's sister Bellatrix on the other hand, also a Death Eater, does not trust Snape at all. When Narcissa declares the Dark Lord Voldemort trusts Snape (and thus, why shouldn't they trust him as well?), Bellatrix replies "The Dark Lord is… I believe… mistaken" (p. 21) Still, Narcissa is not swayed and asks for Snape's assistance. Bellatrix makes her distrust known when she tells Snape vis-à-vis "…I don't trust you, as you very well know!" (p. 25) The loyalty of Snape is further confused when he makes an Unbreakable Vow to protect Draco. The reader is torn between believing Snape really is a Death Eater, given that Snape promised to finish Draco's task if Draco fails, and believing that he is a double agent for Hogwarts, given that Dumbledore has always deeply trusted Snape.

Dumbledore's trust in Snape shows even more when it is revealed that Snape will be teaching the Dark Arts since the school needs a new teacher; this means that Dumbledore believes Snape won't "relapse" to his old Death Eater ways. Dumbledore's trust is deadly, as it turns out, when on page 596, Snape, in the midst of the Death Eaters, uses the "Avada Kedavra" spell to send Dumbledore flying to his death at the climactic end.

Another betrayal is how Draco goes about pretending that he is just a regular Hogwarts student (although not extremely loyal to the school or Dumbledore), but is in fact now, as of The Half-Blood Prince in the employ of Voldemort and the Death Eaters. The first clue the reader has that Draco may betray his school is on page 125, when he shows Borgin something on his arm that Harry, Ron, and Hermione can't see; later on, Harry becomes convinced that Draco showed Borgin a Dark Mark tattoo on his arm and that that Draco has become a Death Eater. Another clue is when Harry overhears Draco say "…I might not even be at Hogwarts next year…" (p. 151) Finally, on page 584, it becomes clear that Draco intends to kill Dumbledore (though he does not seem to have the heart to do it).

Even Narcissa, the mother of Draco, is guilty of betrayal. Her loyalty is split between Lord Voldemort and her own family. Narcissa's husband Lucius Malfoy is already locked up in Azkaban and Narcissa wants to protect her son from Voldemort's assignment. Bella points out that seeking help from Snape is "a betrayal of the Dark Lord's" trust because they were "told not to speak of the plan to anyone." (p 21) Narcissa is desperate, though, and even betrays her own sister when she brings "down the wand like a knife," burning Bella. Narcissa knows that it is against the Dark Lord's orders to tell Snape the plan, and even makes this knowledge explicit to Snape when she says "Severus, I know I ought not to be here, I have been told to nothing to anyone…" (p. 25), but ultimately she chooses to protect her son Draco over keeping her promise to Voldemort.

In a way, Harry's Advanced Potion-Making book betrays Harry. On page 189, Harry learns that his book has special instructions written in by, presumably, a former student. The instructions help him immensely in Potions class. Ginny foreshadows by saying "Did I hear right? You've been taking orders from something someone wrote in a book?" (p. 192), reminding the reader of the catastrophic events that occurred in The Chamber of Secrets when Ginny following a diary's orders. Harry dismisses these worries, and believes that this "Half-Blood Prince" (the name written in the book's cover) is a friend. Near the end, though, Harry finds a Sectumsempra spell that is captioned "For Enemies" (p. 518). Later on, when Draco and Harry confront each other in the bathroom, Harry uses this spell to prevent Draco from using one of the Unforgivable Curses on him. The Sectumsempra spell causes blood to pour from Draco's chest as if he had been slashed by an invisible sword. Harry absolutely did not expect such a violent result; his trust in the book was ruined and he immediately regretted using such a spell, not wishing such a fate even on Draco. To add insult to injury, as Harry is trying to prevent Snape from fleeing Hogwarts by using this spell, Snape shouts "You dare use my own spells against me, Potter? It was I who invented them – I, the Half-Blood Prince!" (p. 604) Harry had been using the instructions and spells of one of the people he hated most.

One much more petty "betrayal" is Harry against Ron. It isn't in reality that much of a betrayal, but Harry having a crush on Ginny, Ron's younger sister, is perceived by Harry as maybe being a betrayal. Throughout the second half of the book, Harry continuously wonders if Ron would approve and dreams of having Ron's approval for them to date. Harry first becomes aware of his feelings when he sees Ginny kissing Dean. "You just didn't like seeing her kissing Dean because she's Ron's sister…" Harry told himself (p. 289). He even dreams about Ron's reaction—which involve wielding a Beater's bat (though not for Quidditch) if he knew Harry's feelings (p. 290). Finally, after the Gryffindor team wins the Quidditch match, "without worrying about the fact that fifty people were watching, Harry kissed her Ginny." (p. 533) Fortunately for Harry, on the next page, "Ron gave a tiny jerk of the head that Harry understood to mean, Well – if you must." Thus, this yearning turns out not to be as great a betrayal as Harry thought if might be.

Another aspect of betrayal is the unintentional betrayals caused by people placed under the Imperius Curse. The Imperius Curse makes the person placed under it like a puppet, doing whatever the person who placed the curse says. Katie Bell (on page 251) was made to carry a package while under the Imperius Curse, and although she never delivered it to the intended recipient because she herself accidentally touched the amulet inside (almost dying as a result), she was absolutely unaware of what she was doing and regretted it later. Also, on page 588, Dumbledore "puts the pieces together" and figures out that Rosemerta, also under the Imperius Curse and a barkeeper in Hogsmeade, was the one who gave Katie Bell the package.

Some other betrayals from other books in Rowling's Harry Potter series are worth noting. In The Chamber of Secrets, Ron's little sister Ginny becomes interested in and very trusting of the diary of Tom Riddle—her trust is betrayed when she comes under the Imperius Curse and is forced to open the Chamber of Secrets to unleash the basilisk on Hogwarts. Another is the betrayal of Ron by his own pet rat, Wormtail (known to Ron and his friend as "Scabbers"). Wormtail is in fact an animagus with the form of a rat and turns out to be a servant of Voldemort. These are just a few of the many instances of treachery and betrayal in the Harry Potter books.

The theme of betrayal and duplicity is very much spread throughout this book, as well as the rest of the Harry Potter's books. It was especially crucial in this book, as it was Snape who killed Dumbledore in the climax, the one who trusted him the most. These treacheries add depth and mystery to the series and make the reader curious with the question: who is on which side? Thus, the theme of betrayal keeps the reader deeply involved and interested with the storyline.


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